Thurston County Auditor Mary Hall made a virtual appearance during the Tuesday, Jan. 28, Yelm City Council meeting to discuss the upcoming Yelm Community Schools levy measure and why Pierce County is handling the election.
Hall, who thanked the Yelm City Council for allowing the Thurston County Auditor’s Office elections division to speak during the council meeting last Tuesday, said Thurston County recently broke ground on a “long overdue” expansion and refurbishment of its ballot processing center.
“For those of you who have been around a long time, we’ve been in that same footprint since 1985. This is a much needed upgrade to our system. To ensure that everything runs smoothly in this Yelm Community School District election, we’ve entered into an interlocal agreement with Pierce County — who is fantastic,” Hall said during the meeting. “They are going to actually mail and count the ballots for this election. If people want replacement ballots, they can certainly come into our office. If they need assistance, they can call our office or Pierce County’s office. Of course, we’ll have our ballot drop box locations open in Yelm, too.”
Hall added that she’s received multiple calls from concerned citizens who’ve received a Pierce County elections ballot while living in Thurston County. She reiterated that all Yelm Community Schools levy voters received ballots from Pierce County. Military and overseas ballots were sent out to voters with over a month of time to register and cast their decisions.
“The rest of the ballots went out on the 24th. We did include a voter’s pamphlet with those ballots, so you should probably already have your ballot. The drop boxes open for this election are Lacamas Elementary School, Nisqually Tribal Administration building, Rainier City Hall, Yelm Schools Administration Building and Roy City Hall in Pierce County,” Hall said. “We will be reporting results on election night, as well as Pierce County. We’ve got about 20,000 voters that live in Thurston County within the Yelm Community Schools District, but we actually split that district with Pierce County. Historically, it’s not uncommon for jurisdictions to help the other jurisdiction out if they have no elections — just for efficiency’s sake.”
Referencing a previous conversation with YCS Superintendent Chris Woods, Hall said voters within Thurston County will often arrive at the ballot processing center on election night for results. If residents wish to do so this year, Hall said the only difference would be to “go across the parking lot” because that’s where the new voting center is. It will be open until 8 p.m.
Yelm City Councilor Joshua Crossman said he’s been surprised to see so many voters who don’t realize that Yelm Community Schools also covers Pierce County.
“I grew up on the other side of the river in Pierce County and I was in the Yelm district. I voted many years as a Pierce County voter before I moved into the city,” Crossman said. “It covers a large area, and it’s surprising how many people don’t realize how big Yelm Community School district really is and what it encompasses.”
